
Ken Plum: Overdue ethics reform
The “Virginia way” that has always prided itself on clean government has been sullied. Committees in the House and Senate are at work to tighten up ethics laws for the legislative and executive branches of government.

The “Virginia way” that has always prided itself on clean government has been sullied. Committees in the House and Senate are at work to tighten up ethics laws for the legislative and executive branches of government.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced on Wednesday the appointments of Boyd Marcus and Jeffrey Painter to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and the reappointment of 17 agency heads across his administration.

“If [Governor-elect] Mr. McAuliffe thinks he can usurp powers of the legislature, he’s courting a divorce before the honeymoon… this is Virginia, not Washington.” That’s what I told the Charlottesville NBC affiliate recently when asked to comment about McAuliffe’s plan to extend special protections to certain classes of state employees.

Gov. Bob McDonnell today announced the membership for the newly-created Task Force on Improving Mental Health Services and Crisis Response. The membership includes leaders in the mental health field, law enforcement communities, the judicial system, private hospitals, and individuals receiving mental health services and their families.

New Year’s Day is almost here, and it’s a good time to look back upon the best and worst in transportation in our area during 2013. So it is time to rank and rant as we ponder the milestones and frown upon the millstones in transportation in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia during the year that was 2013.

Gov.-elect Terry McAuliffe nominated former Delegate Brian Moran to serve as Secretary of Public Safety in his administration. Moran spent seven years as a prosecutor in the Arlington County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office before entering the House of Delegates, where he sat on the Courts of Justice Committee for his entire 12 years in office.

State Sen. Creigh Deeds was stabbed multiple times on his upper torso and head in an attack at his home in Millboro in Bath County Tuesday morning. His son, Gus, 24, also of Millboro, is dead of injuries from a gunshot wound in the same incident.

State Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, is in critical condition after being stabbed at his home in Millboro, and his son, Gus, 24, is dead from a gunshot wound, according to multiple media reports Tuesday morning. Details about what happened at the Deeds home are still not known.

Almost 300 voting delegates representing 88 county Farm Bureaus statewide will gather next month to help shape Virginia Farm Bureau Federation’s state and federal policies for the coming year. During this year’s VFBF Annual Convention, those delegates will discuss and vote on numerous policies that affect farmers and their livelihoods.

Twenty-six million Americans — consisting of women, men and kids of all ages — suffer from noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), as reported by the U.S. (NIH). Noise-induced hearing loss is caused by exposure to unsafe noise levels of 85 decibels (dB) or higher, and can be permanent or temporary.
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